Automatic ILR

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:40 pm

Hi, I'm confused about my wife's visa status, she has a settlement visa, it states she is my spouse and there are no notes about recourse to public funds. We lived abroad for about 3 years, we also married abroad. I am British, she is Dominican, our daughter who was born in the Dominican Republic has a British passport. Does she need to apply for ILR or not? The PEO weren't sure, they said that she probably has ILR but we should attend the appointment anyway as they would need to see her visa before they could give me an answer. I am worried that they will take Â£950 from me and then say that she already has ILR. Can anybody help?

vinny · Post by **vinny** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:52 pm

What is her Entry clearance endorsement?

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:09 am

Sorry to be thick, but could you explain what you mean by entry clearance endorsement

paulp · Post by **paulp** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:23 am

What does it say on her visa? Is there a time limit or expiry date?

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:37 am

No it just says D:settlement wife of........
Below it says again spouse of .......
Says valid to 3-2-08, I was told that this is the date that she has to enter the country by.
There are no observations or conditions
When she first arrived the visa was stamped with the date stamp

vinny · Post by **vinny** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:20 am

How about a valid from date?

When did she enter the UK?

If the letters "ILE" or "Indefinite Leave to Enter" are not written anywhere, then, unfortunately, it looks like she has not been granted ILR.

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:26 am

valid from 3/2/06 valid to 3/2/08
she entered 26/2/2006
ILE not written anywhere.

The advice that I had was that because it says settlement visa and there is nothing about recourse to public funds it means that she automatically had ILR, this was from the PEO by telephone, but they wanted to see the passport before they could be sure

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:38 am

clarky500 wrote:valid from 3/2/06 valid to 3/2/08
she entered 26/2/2006
ILE not written anywhere.

The advice that I had was that because it says settlement visa and there is nothing about recourse to public funds it means that she automatically had ILR, this was from the PEO by telephone, but they wanted to see the passport before they could be sure

Seems she has a spouse visa, which isn't ILR - she has to apply for that pretty soon (date she entered, 26/02/2006, less 28 days, so 30/01/08 I believe). She has to pass the life in the UK test...has she done this?

She does not have recourse to public funds on a spouse visa (but she can work, study, volunteer, etc)...

Look at the application form for ILR for spouses to find out what you need to include in the application. Use SET(M). http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresi ... tiontypes/

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:45 am

sakura wrote:
clarky500 wrote:valid from 3/2/06 valid to 3/2/08
she entered 26/2/2006
ILE not written anywhere.

The advice that I had was that because it says settlement visa and there is nothing about recourse to public funds it means that she automatically had ILR, this was from the PEO by telephone, but they wanted to see the passport before they could be sure
Seems she has a spouse visa, which isn't ILR - she has to apply for that pretty soon (date she entered, 26/02/2006, less 28 days, so 30/01/08 I believe). She has to pass the life in the UK test...has she done this?

She does not have recourse to public funds on a spouse visa (but she can work, study, volunteer, etc)...

Look at the application form for ILR for spouses to find out what you need to include in the application. Use SET(M). http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresi ... tiontypes/

That is why we are confused, all of the other people we know have no recourse to public funds on the visa, she does not.
She has passed the life in the UK test and we have an appointment on the 30th for ILR, but this is when things got confusing because they thought she already had ILR.

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:48 am

I have a scan of her visa which I can email if somebody thinks they can give me a definative answer

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:48 am

clarky500 wrote:
sakura wrote:
clarky500 wrote:valid from 3/2/06 valid to 3/2/08
she entered 26/2/2006
ILE not written anywhere.

The advice that I had was that because it says settlement visa and there is nothing about recourse to public funds it means that she automatically had ILR, this was from the PEO by telephone, but they wanted to see the passport before they could be sure
Seems she has a spouse visa, which isn't ILR - she has to apply for that pretty soon (date she entered, 26/02/2006, less 28 days, so 30/01/08 I believe). She has to pass the life in the UK test...has she done this?

She does not have recourse to public funds on a spouse visa (but she can work, study, volunteer, etc)...

Look at the application form for ILR for spouses to find out what you need to include in the application. Use SET(M). http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresi ... tiontypes/
That is why we are confused, all of the other people we know have no recourse to public funds on the visa, she does not.
She has passed the life in the UK test and we have an appointment on the 30th for ILR, but this is when things got confusing because they thought she already had ILR.

She does not have ILR if the visa she was issued with has an expiry date. The two years for the visa is certainly a spouse visa. She does not have recourse to public funds on a spouse visa...doesn't matter what anyone else says or what is/isn't written on her visa (although it is unusual).

An ILR vignette is far more obvious and would not have an expiry date.

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:53 am

Can you see why I am confused? The PEO said the expiry date on the visa was the last date she could enter the UK not the day the visa expires

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:19 am

clarky500 wrote:Can you see why I am confused? The PEO said the expiry date on the visa was the last date she could enter the UK not the day the visa expires

I don't believe that is correct...

Can someone else clarify? I've seen the visa and it is written in pen, is this usual? Anyway, it says "Type D: Settlement wife of..." and I believe a Type D is a settlement visa, right? There is a start and expiry date of exactly two years...

Clarky...my opinion is that there wouldn't have been any reason for them to give her ILR automatically...she doesn't qualify for it at all. The only basis to be given it automatically is if you were married for four years outside the UK, and even then you get ILE and not ILR! So, she doesn't qualify for either one, and so I think she has a spouse visa and needs to apply for ILR at the end of the month.

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:26 am

Thanks.
It was hand written because the visa machine was broken(for about 3 months) the consulate agreed to issue a hand written visa because they could not fix the machine and had assured me that the visa would be issued by a certain date.

We lived together for 3 years before my wife applied for the visa. We were married about 6 months before she applied for the visa.

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:32 am

clarky500 wrote:Thanks.
It was hand written because the visa machine was broken(for about 3 months) the consulate agreed to issue a hand written visa because they could not fix the machine and had assured me that the visa would be issued by a certain date.

We lived together for 3 years before my wife applied for the visa. We were married about 6 months before she applied for the visa.

Well that settles it then! It is a spouse visa and she needs to apply for ILR!

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:36 am

Why do you think that the PEO are confused, and in you opinion is her visa normal (apart from the fact that it is handwritten)? Thanks for your help.

SYH · Post by **SYH** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:45 am

clarky500 wrote:Thanks.
It was hand written because the visa machine was broken(for about 3 months) the consulate agreed to issue a hand written visa because they could not fix the machine and had assured me that the visa would be issued by a certain date.

We lived together for 3 years before my wife applied for the visa. We were married about 6 months before she applied for the visa.

Handwritten visa is acceptable. That's what I had and although the IO like to grumble when they get it, its not my fault their machine was broken.

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:53 am

clarky500 wrote:Why do you think that the PEO are confused, and in you opinion is her visa normal (apart from the fact that it is handwritten)? Thanks for your help.

No idea why they're confused....but it could have been potentially bad for you if you didn't obtain ILR or another visa before your current one expires...because then she would be classified as an overstayer and might have trouble obtaining ILR.

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:54 am

I just spoke to BIA they are confused too, they say that the visa should say one of the following things, ILE or a restricted leave to enter. They can't clarify by phone and suggested I call the embassy that issued the visa for clarification. They also said if we attend the PEO they should let me know if we need to apply for ILR without taking any money from me but there is a possibility that they may charge me anyway because it is an admin fee!!

vinny · Post by **vinny** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:16 pm

clarky500 wrote:Why do you think that the PEO are confused, and in you opinion is her visa normal (apart from the fact that it is handwritten)? Thanks for your help.

See also endorsements for normal visas. The code 1 refers to "No recourse to public funds".

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:42 pm

Vinny,

I just checked out the endorsements on the BIA website, it seems that the consul who issued the visa made a mistake by not adding ILE etc after the visa type.
If you like I can email you a scan of the visa so you can see for yourself.

thanks

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:47 pm

clarky500 wrote:Vinny,

I just checked out the endorsements on the BIA website, it seems that the consul who issued the visa made a mistake by not adding ILE etc after the visa type.
If you like I can email you a scan of the visa so you can see for yourself.

thanks

She is not entitled to ILE!!!!! That is the point I am making. She doesn't qualify...you have not been living outside the UK for more than 4 years as either married partners or unmarried partners, right? So how does she qualify?

paulp · Post by **paulp** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:51 pm

Clarky,

You've hit the nail on the head, the BHC made a mishmash of it. The "D: Settlement" does hint at ILE but without the actual words/letters, it is very ambiguous.

Can't you get a fax/letter from the BHC to confirm the type of visa that your wife has been given?

clarky500 · Post by **clarky500** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:51 pm

We met and married while I was living in the Dominican Republic, we lived there together for 3 years until we came back to the UK in Feb 2006.
Whilst I appreciate it is not the 4 years that is required now, I am not sure but I believe the ruling then was you had to have be married or in a marriage like relationship for 2 years to qualify.

The thing that is confusing is that the visa does not say either way ILE or restricted leave to enter.

paulp · Post by **paulp** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:52 pm

sakura wrote:She is not entitled to ILE!!!!! That is the point I am making. She doesn't qualify...you have not been living outside the UK for more than 4 years as either married partners or unmarried partners, right? So how does she qualify?

Sakura, there are people who have been given ILE at BHCs abroad without qualifying for it. The visas are entirely valid as it's what's been granted.

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